DeSantis got a glowing reception during a secretive, high-profile conservative summit at Trump Doral — then the ex-president called in

• An influential conservative group, the Council for National Policy, held one of its summits this weekend.
• DeSantis was one of the speakers at the dinner, held in the grand ballroom at Trump Doral.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis brought a large crowd to its feet during a speech over the weekend to an exclusive, powerful club of conservatives — all on a South Florida Trump property.

The Council for National Policy held a summit this weekend at Trump National Doral, a golf club owned by former President Trump that's just on the outskirts of the City of Miami.

Trump himself didn't speak in person at the event, but he surprised the crowd by calling roughly an hour after DeSantis left the stage, five people who attended confirmed to Insider.

"I think Trump offered to phone in after he heard [DeSantis] was speaking," one guest who spoke on condition of anonymity told Insider. "There was no overt annoyance from Trump about DeSantis. He was good natured and avoided mentioning the governor. It was a brief stream of consciousness list of his own achievements, mentioning the Supreme Court a couple of times."

"He did laud his own property," the person added. Trump Doral hosts numerous GOP fundraisers and other events, and was the site of the Liv Golf Tournament in late October.

The Council for National Policy has been meeting for roughly four decades under a shroud of silence in upscale locations three times a year. According to the a leaked directory Insider obtained in 2021, Its membership includes the leaders of a variety of conservative advocacy groups, including anti-abortion organizations and think tanks, as well as CEOs, wealthy donors, pastors, leaders of conservative universities, and right-wing pundits.

Trump's call appeared to have been last minute, and organizers seemed unsure about when exactly he'd phone in, one guest said. DeSantis spoke and then 45 minutes to an hour later, after guests dined on their fillet steak main course, Trump addressed the crowd.

Upon learning about the event, Insider combed through the CNP directory to interview members, many of whom did not return a call for comment. Guests that did pick up the phone did not want to discuss the event or be named because the group asks its members not to speak to the press.

"The meetings are off the record," one member told Insider, though the person confirmed DeSantis spoke. "It was a terrific speech. He recounted his accomplishments as governor, and we liked him."

DeSantis gave his speech to CNP members before dinner, which occurred Saturday evening in the grand ballroom, according to a copy of the program obtained by Insider. Two guests estimated that over 1,000 people were in attendance.

Even though DeSantis' speech was not in the program, "Everyone seemed to know it was happening," one of the conference attendees told Insider. That person added that Trump's call in had not been expected, but that rumors had been circulating about how the event would go down over the weekend.

"People were speculating he might show up because of DeSantis," the person said.

Bob McEwen, CNP's executive director, wouldn't comment when reached by Insider over the phone, saying the events were private. He wouldn't confirm the details of the event when Insider shared its reporting, including whether Trump's appearance had been scheduled.

"We don't do press responses," McEwen, a former US House member, said.

Steven Cheung, spokesman for the Trump campaign, didn't address questions about the reason for Trump's phone call in a response to Insider. The focus of the remarks was on his anti-abortion victories, Cheung added.

"President Trump was honored to have the Council for National Policy at the world-renowned Trump National Doral," he said. "He spoke to a raucous crowd of conservative leaders, which gave him a standing ovation, to tout pro-life victories during his administration — including nominating pro-life federal judges and Supreme Court justices that overturned Roe v. Wade, ending tax-payer funded abortions, reinstated the Mexico City Policy that protects the life of the unborn abroad, and many other actions that championed the life of the unborn. There has never been a more pro-life president in history and he will continue defending the unborn when he returns to the White House."

It does appear some attendees were unaware that DeSantis would be delivering a speech. Paul Blair, president of Reclaiming America for Christ, tweeted a picture of DeSantis and described him as a "surprise speaker" at the event.

Trump focused his remarks on the anti-abortion cause

Miranda Devine, a columnist at the New York Post, spoke at the CNP event before Trump phoned in, and did a question and answer session after the call finished. According to the program, Devine spoke about her concerns regarding censorship, including on how the media failed to report on Hunter Biden's laptop. Devine is the author of "Laptop from Hell: Hunter Biden, Big Tech, and the Dirty Secrets the President Tried to Hide."

Devine wrote in her February 12 New York Post column that the Miami crowd gave DeSantis four standing ovations — though she didn't disclose in the column that the Council for National Policy hosted the event.

One of the ovations occurred after DeSantis announced he'd be signing a bill into law that would give him the power to appoint a board that would oversee Disney World, Devine wrote. The crowd "loved" DeSantis' familiar lines about standing up to "woke" entities — a term that conservatives use to refer to progressive activism.

"We fight the woke in the corporations, we fight the woke in the halls of the legislature, we fight the woke in the schools and in the universities," he said, according to the New York Post. "We will never surrender to the woke mob. The state of Florida is where woke goes to die."

Trump, too, received a warm welcome from the crowd. Devine wrote that attendees "warmly applauded Trump, who phoned in after DeSantis to remind everyone of his own considerable achievements."

Maggie Haberman, the top Trump reporter at the New York Times, remarked on Twitter this week that Trump called into the meeting to tout his anti-abortion record.

Trump's focus on abortion rights may show that he plans to run to the right on DeSantis regarding the issue. While DeSantis is expected to continue to chip away at abortion rights during Florida's session that begins in March, he has come under some criticism from conservatives given that the bill he signed into law doesn't go further than making it illegal to have an abortion after 15 weeks into a pregnancy.

DeSantis' political team did not offer comment on the record.

Other speakers at the CNP event included Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur, author, and political activist who is considering running for president and posted his remarks on YouTube.

Jenna Ellis, a former White House counsel and host with American Family Radio, took a photo of herself with DeSantis at the event. On Tuesday she aired an interview with Trump in which he told her he would see it as "disloyalty" for DeSantis to challenge him for the 2024 GOP nomination.

"Somebody gets you in, you sort of be loyal to that person," Trump said.

Since the reelection, Trump has been more openly attacking DeSantis, who in turn has taunted the ex-president with passive aggressive appearances and jabs.

Other panels over the weekend were titled "Next Steps in Election Integrity" and "How Truth Will Defeat the Corruption by the Left to Destroy America's Culture." Leaders from the conservative Turning Point USA — a conservative group aimed at young people that held a summit at Trump Doral ealier this month — were among the panelists. According to NBC, Trump has been frustrated with the group over its outreach to DeSantis.

The directory says CNP's No. 1 value is to "honor God," and its vision statement calls for restoring "Judeo-Christian values under the Constitution."

Several CNP members told Insider in September 2021 that they were not sold on Trump as their next Republican nominee for president.